Lunch crews:

To go north west from Changde you have to pass through the small city of Cili.  I've been there many times and have stopped at this restaurant many times where the food is excellent. 

A cook in Shanxi making a layered vegetable bun. 

These guys are eating bowls of noodles, warm broth and and steamed buns.  The buns are in the middle of the table.  They were steamed in the container with the handle.  The handle part is the bottom of the steamer.  The bun sits on in the top part of the steamer.

Lunch crew from village just north of Changde.  To go north from Changde you have to go through this city so I stop all the time at this guys restaurant.  The girls are his daughters.  The taller girl is a junior in highschool and speaks pretty good English.

Cook in central Henan.  She's making a bowl of noodles but the taste in Henan is much different than in Hunan.  The noodles are also wheat not rice.  The toping of chopped beef was fantastic and more meat than in anyplace in Hunan.

Cooking noodles is standard.  There is a very large pot of boiling water and only cooks one bowl of noodles at a time.  That way the noodles cook very quickly.

Adding the secret sauce.

A picture of heaven.